Host, reseller, payments , backups and more Oh my! Help Please!

I'm getting down to the nitty gritty when it comes to finding a host and I'm looking for an alternative to my HostGator account. I intend to have one Hosting account that I can use for reseller purposes when I create a niche site ( with graphics, domain name, advertising, etc), hosting my ezine, forum and blogs. What hosting service would you suggest ? I love hostgator don't get me wrong but if there is a cheaper alternative with the same features, options and more space then I'd love to hear about it.

So many of you have such a fantastic level of expertise when it comes to this subject I'm completely comfortable and compelled to ask " the experts"

 

HostGator is dirt cheap. There are countless better hosts but I don't know of any cheaper ones.
BlueHost is $6.95 per month and they are excellent.

 

Host Gator is truly awesome I just wanted to know the other alternatives every one else was using. I used GoDaddy for a certain time period but it became kind of annoying after a certain point. Have you personally used Hostgator as a reseller account?

 

I haven't personally used HostGator because they have a cap on usage, or at least they used to.
I have my own dedicated server for my largest site.
I use JustHost for one virtual dedicated site and Media Temple for another one.
I wouldn't recommend GoDaddy to anyone if Danica Patrick came with the hosting plan. It's garbage.

 

I get my VPS from Hostigation and have done for more than half a year. I'm really happy with them, and support is grand. a cPanel license gives you a semi-dedicated service (with the cPanel installed obviously).

They also do reseller and shared hosting, however the prices are a bit high for some people - it would be cheaper to get one of their VPS's and a cPanel license

Liam

 

I'm very interested in the prospect of using my own server I just want to do a little more research before I jump over the edge with that one. Your the Jedi of this so I know you know exactly what to look for when it comes to running your own server. Do you do your own security for it or do you have someone whom covers that for you for your larger site.

Danica Patrick, lol, I know the commercials are garbage.

 

Well, security on a server is relatively simple. You'd only use standard programs anyway, so viri isn't an issue. The only issue really is PHP cracks - and as long as you only use the modules you need, and make sure to set everything up so people can't go astray, then everything is fine and dandy

All servers come with the iptables firewall as well, and you have the ability to change the SSH ports and disable password authentication (I changed the port).

 

Hmm, so it's possible to get the cpanel license? Wow this forum is putting my head in information overload status in a great way! I had no idea you could do that. I know Blue Host and 1 on 1, had the same cpanel but the features are a bit different. How do you get the license for that?

 

Wait, new terms, lol, researching as I'm reading, lol. You guys are awesome. Do you have to have the physical server in your home, can't I purchase a dedicated server from a third party provider and pay them for maintenance?

 

I'm not the definitive word on how to run your site. You should definitely get more than one opinion. I only know from my own experience what has served me well.
As far as my own server is concerned I run it from my home over a business class cable connection with a block of dedicated IP addresses. It's a RAID10 mirror configuration so it's redundant and will theoretically never lose data. It's also a four processor, sixteen RAM stick motherboard, so it's probably overkill for most sites, including my own. I just got a great deal on the equipment.
I use a product called Black Ice for my server security. It's excellent but it's a real pain in the backside to set up because it automatically flags everything unless you specifically allow it.
I'm sure there are better, or at least more easily configurable alternatives available but I've not looked into them as of yet.

 

The vast majority of people don't have a dedicated server at home, the electricity and internet costs alone would be astronomical

Most hosts sell them - they aren't cheap though (although check the host in my signature). They'll have the server in their datacenter and pay all the internet and electricity fees, and sort any hardware failures. You'll have SSH and VNC access to it.

 

Most hosts offer it. If you get it from your host, it's cheaper than cPanel direct, however it'll be limited to the hosts machines, and to get priority cPanel support you'll have to go through your host.

I get my license from my host

 

Eeeeeeek $29 a month for 10GB of storage an a 1/4 of a gig of ram...

At hostigation, I get a cPanel license, 1GB of RAM, 50GB of storage and 2 cores. KVM virtualization, for $26 a month.

 

I pay $19.95 a month with JustHost for dedicated IP, 2GB RAM, burstable to 4GB, automatic backup, SiteLock security, cPanel Pro, unlimited bandwidth, and unlimited storage.

Really it all depends on what your site needs.

 

That would be Virtuozzo then? I hate VPS' with that - they're an absolute pain in the arse.

 

No, JustHost doesn't use Virtuozzo. Media Temple does though. I have them for another site.

 

What is it then? It won't be KVM or XEN, as they don't have burst RAM...

 

cPanel Pro

 

Is not a virtualization system, it's a control panel.